Slaps and her cooker

Slapperella just bought a cooker (that's Briddish for "stove").  I'm not going to call it a cooker because the name disturbs me (too close to "hooker") and since it is almost time for the 4th of July and we won the war, I don't feel the need to speak Briddish.

So anyhooo, she bought a stove.  You have to understand - she moved into her apartment (notice I didn't say "FLAT") something like 2 years ago (she used the elevator to get there - NOT the "lift").  When she moved into her place- which is not furnished - from a furnished apartment, there were no kitchen appliances, so she had to buy them.  She just never felt the need for a stove because hey - what would she do with it? Dry clothes?  She had a microwave, a refrigerator, and a telephone (delivery orders) which are the Single Girl's Tools of Choice.

Personally, I feel that she had some kind of terribly traumatic cooking incident during her former marriage which has ruined her for all forms of food preparation.  She won't discuss it; so I feel there is an underlying root to her condition.

I felt pity on her, so I bought her a few items so she could eat hot food in an emergency (Ramadan):  a microwave rice cooker; a microwave egg boiler; a microwave hamburger cooker, a microwave bacon (beef or turkey of course) cooker...(okay, you get it).  I just saw a microwave coffee maker in True Value and I had to stop myself.

For this week, in a historical and landmark event, Slaps bought a stove and I hear that it is a top-O'-the-line model at that.  We don't actually know what she's going to do with it, but I suspect foul play.  When she starts buying the 50 gallon drums and the large cooking pots, I figure she's seen "Fried Green Tomatoes" (pronounced "toe-may-toe") one-too-many-a-time and someone has seen  the down side of her delicate demeanor.

I'm just say-in.

Shrimpy just grossed me out

I like several things about Shrimpy.  I like their fish and chips.  Well, I like the fish part (except for the amount of batter they hide the little pieces in). Their chips suck.  Their coleslaw is generally pretty good too and they have been making an effort lately to add more taste to their bread - or maybe the change from circle to square has me bamboozled.  I like the big green salads that they have.  That's a plus.

What I don't like is (this part is much longer).... that the majority of their employees do not speak English. They take up to 2 hours to deliver.  They insist on calling you back and speaking to you in Arabic if you tell them that you only speak Engish.  And this is all before you ever receive the food.

Thats why I use 6alabat.com - so that I don't HAVE to speak to a human (even though Shrimpy immediately phones you to discuss your address even though they've been there a million times and can LOOK IT UP ON A MAP or GPS - realize that's probably too high tech).  Anyhooooo....

Their "grilled" "shrimp" sandwich I just ordered was DIS-gusting.  It was more like "grease on a bun".  It had nothing to do with shrimp - or grilling.  There were some brown greasy strips that might have been onions at one time, a slab of cheese (WHY???), and about 6 little brown, hard things that may have been sea-dwelling creatures at some point (rigor mortis had set in, so someone threw salt on them apparently).

Today's order took a mere 1.5 hours to be delivered, so I guess the fact that their edible coleslaw arrived should have been good enough for me.  Dayam.

Why am I picking on Shrimpy today? 
A) because I can. 
B) because I have been chewing on this for the past 14 years until I finally found an opportunity today to say something about it.
C) the f-ing sandwich got grease all over me (note that I didn't phrase that, "I got grease all over myself by ordering/attempting to eat their sandwich.")

If you have a good concept, a well-known name, WHY can't you offer good quality food and service?  Je ne get it pas.

Natural/Organic Pet Food in Kuwait

My bitch, Desert Dawg,  is an Alpo girl.  She won't eat anything but Alpo, but I gotta say - if I could get her off the hooch, I would want her to eat something more healthy.

A reader asked me to post this, so here it is.  For those of you looking for organic alternatives, har it is.

I didn't get paid for this ad.  Lisa, I accept pink roses (no joke).  That goes for the rest of you deadbeats that I have helped over the years - you know who you are.

Lisa say:  My Kuwaiti partner and I have just launched a distributorship for Quality Natural and Organic Pet Food. I too, was looking for quality dog food for my two rescued Salukis and decided it was high time we had some good food here in Kuwait for our animal companions!  We currently distribute Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance dog and cat food and treats and ZiwiPeak dog and cat food and treats.  You can find Natural Balance already in Pet Zone, ACE Hardware and 6 of the Sultan Center grocers. ZiwiPeak can be found at PetZone.  We hope to have these and more products in other locations very soon.  We also have a small distributor showroom-- Basic Organic Pet & Feed-- in the Rai Center (Blue Top of building at the right-end side of what's known as the Iranian Furniture Souk right across from the Animal Market side of the Friday Market and across the street from both the RAH and Al Doha Vet Clinics--we're in the row of shops under the blue English Rai Center sign).  We offer online sales and delivery--- http://www.basicorganicpet.com/ or call 2247 8140. Natural Balance products are all natural foods for dogs and cats imported from the US.  There is also an organic dog food in the line.  Cats and dogs with food sensitivities and all pet owners who are looking for a high quality food are encouraged to try the Limited Ingredient Diet Formulas.  There is also a line of natural dog treats—hard to find here in Kuwait for sure!  We will soon have available natural cat treats from Natural Balance too.   ZiwiPeak products come from New Zealand and are a natural, complete diet for your dog or cat.  “Raw without the thaw”, ZiwiPeak is formulated to replicate as near as possible, the same balance of meat ingredients that dogs and cats would find by hunting in the wild.   Your readers can go directly to the stores carrying Natural Balance and ZiwiPeak as I’ve mentioned or I would be happy to speak directly to any pet owner who wishes more information.   Thank you for spreading the word.  
Lisa Schmidt
Basic General Trading & Contracting Co.
Regional Sales Manager-Pet Division
6502 6640

Way to make your country look CRAZY

I strongly believe that lawmakers and potential lawmakers (here, there, and everywhere) should be given psychological evaluations PRIOR to going into office.  THIS one in particular...

 Arab Times, 26 June 2011

‘Permit Kuwaiti women to buy good-looking men”

 Islamic thinker describes proposal as strange and odd

KUWAIT CITY, June 25: A few weeks after creating waves with the suggestion that Kuwaiti men be allowed to keep concubines to satisfy their urges, former national assembly candidate and activist Salwa Al-Mutairi has called for issuing a law that would allow Kuwaiti women to buy good looking men from Muslim countries. The men, however, should have ‘slave qualities’ and should be ready for marriage.

According to Al-Mutairi, the proposal would solve the problem of spinsters in Kuwait and would help face the phenomenon of increasing divorce rates in the country.

Talking about the qualities of a slave man, Al-Mutairi said “the purchased man should be polite, modest and good looking. He should obey the orders of his wife and treat her well, so that she spends her life with him in a beautiful way, away from clashes, fights and disputes.”

 Salwa added that such ‘husbands’ should be recruited through offices in Islamic countries, not just from Russia, and said ‘wanted husbands for women’ advertisements should mention that the candidate should either be a Muslim or should be willing to embrace Islam.

A Kuwaiti woman can select her husband by looking at the photos of the applicants, she said, adding the proposal will also help eugenics in Kuwait.  Al-Mutairi said she would do the job if she was given legal authorization and would visit European and Asian countries which have large Muslim populations and hire men who have the qualities needed to satisfy Kuwaiti women.

Salwa also claimed that a former minister who spent 14 years in his position proposed to her and that he loves her very much but she refused to marry him because he is 30 years older than her. She said she is ready to get married to a young good looking European, even if he is poor.

Meanwhile, Islamic thinker Mohammad Al-Ansari described the proposal on purchasing slaves as “strange, odd and not in tune with the current times.”

- - -

Emmmmm.... Ms. Mutairi..... take a look around you.  Many Kuwaiti women ARE marrying men from other countries and they are intelligent enough not to have to buy them!  She is also forgetting about the many women who just plain don't WANT to get married.

Regardless - WTF....  Can somebody put a lid on this?

Sandaweeech hameer

First cat meat and now donkey. 

‘Donkey meat being served’

KUWAIT CITY, June 24: Demands for tightening monitoring on the distribution of meat in the local market have intensified amid reports that a certain restaurant is serving donkey meat, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
Stressing the need to protect public health, sources said many people have expressed concern considering the holy month of Ramadan is fast approaching. They called on the concerned authorities to punish those behind the distribution of donkey meat in the local market. They also appealed to the Kuwait Municipality and Ministry of Commerce and Industry to closely supervise the restaurants to ensure public safety.



Want to adopt a sandwich meat?  Adopt a donkey.  

Chinese turning pets into wild animals

This is awesome. I think I want to turn Desert Dawg into a racoon.

China's latest craze: dyeing pets to look like other wild animals



First they eat them, then they dye them.  Fascinating.  I wonder if I can dye a Great Dane to look like George Clooney.....

Pink Weekend

You know it is June in Kuwait when I get pink stink eye.  This sucks.  It started yesterday morning when I woke up and my left eye was swollen shut.  Yeah, like THAT is pretty.  Then, the other one started itching. I felt like Will Smith in "Hitch" in the allergy scene in the pharmacy.....  oooooh snap....

So I call my opthemologist (don't ask me to spell that again) and he's booked until AUGUST (yes yes, the summer in Kuwait in all it's hot, dry, dust-filled glory).  So this morning, I went to the International Clinic and sat there for 2 hours praying just to get in on a walk-in; which I finally accomplished.  Woo hoo.  So..  poop... ten days without make-up.

And.... I walk into work this morning and one of the sweet little girls who wears hijab from down the hall comes running out of her office and says, "Oh my God!  Are you okay?  What HAPPENED to you?" (As if I had been in a bad accident...)   I'm like, 'emmm.. I'm not wearing make up.'  Dayam.  So I sit down and our Ops Manager calls me, "Scary".  I got to give him that one - it only came after I gave him a hard time for having a (fictitious) relationship with a business person we all know.  He doesn't like it, so of course, I egg him on constantly.  (It's what I do.)

I had a very nice weekend.  Southern Bedu had a wee bit too much of the sauce and he does tend to talk tooooooo much and tooooooo loud, but he's a happy sauced fellow, so I can't help but adore him.  I think he out-talked Bunny (yeah dude, I SAW the look!) and even Yuwaisef took SoBedu aside and told him to keep the volume down.  I said, 'You can't help it.  You are a Bedouin man and very passionate...'  (and that translates to, 'DAYAM boy!  Keep a lid on it!' but in a nice way.)  He was cute anyways.

Some of the stuff he tells me.... OMG - If I ever see his x-wife, I am going to kick her ass from here to China.  We don't like the mean lady; no we don't.

Southern Bedu tells me he loves me all the time; almost more than I tell him, and has mentioned getting serious on both drunken and sober occassions.  I do love a man who can spend the whole weekend and part of the week; has his own place; cooks his own meals (when he feels like it);  cleans (ditto); and is independant.  I would, fer sure, kick asses for him.  I know the feeling is mutual.

I'm kind of liking not leaving the house so much on the weekends.  It was 115 degrees on Friday.  Why should I go anywhere?  But, have you ever noticed that when you're not moving around, you get more tired?  I am just so lethargic. 

I saw that movie, "Remember Me" yesterday.  It stars that vampire guy (can't remember his name), some blonde girl, and oh yeah, the British dude whose name escapes me at the moment.  Oh wow - synapse fired - Pierce Brosnan.   My sister had told me about it, but I had never bought a copy of the DVD.  It was kind of slow in places, but very good.  I felt like I might be able to flush some of the pink out of my eyes with a big "boo-hoo"/ugly cry with no one around in the evening (because I already knew the ending, compliments of my sister).   It didn't do anything for my eyes, but my nose got congested and I scared my dog.  Go figure.

Lancome has pushed me too far!

(Sorry dudes, this is one for the girls.  All about the make-up....)

Women all over the world have been fascinated by how Arab women do their eye make-up.  It is a mystery to many who haven't mastered the art of applying eye make-up; and especially mysterious to those who either can't be bothered taking the time to practice applying it with a brush, or just get too frustrated/lack patience after a few tries. It can take years to perfect your technique - literally.

As any Arab woman will tell you, Lancome black liquid eyeliner is a must-have staple for your cosmetics bag. Yeah yeah yeah... I know there are others who will say that eyeliner pencils or kohl are better or that Mac (etc.)  has a better product, yada... whatever....   I haven't been able to live without my Lancome since I was 14 years old (although the local Lyra kohl eye pencils are also a long-time favorite - especially on the inside of the eye rim - like in the picture above).   I am an artist with the brush and my eye.  It is an art.  Amateurs can stick to their pencils and leave the brush applicators to the professionals. (Bien sur, shall I continue, I will probably look like Phylliss Dyller when I'm her age with big black circles around my eyes, but jenegiveashitpas.  Besides, that's besides the point..... )



Loreal - the RIGHT
package and natural brush
 by the competion.



Back to my story...

Lancome has now pissed me off to the Nth.  They have gone too far.  Non non non!  C'est impossible!

First, Lancome discontinued their larger tube of liquid eyeliner and changed it to a smaller version (like half the content) with a harsh, plastic applicator brush.  It literally hurt to apply it.  So, I had to search around for another brand (like Loreal, for example at a mere $8 a tube) with the appropriate applicator brush and dip it into the Lancome tube.  Tres sucky!

NEXT, they discontinued the brush applicator all together in the US... and you could only get the felt-tip pen applicator type.  Usually, whatever happens in the the States comes to Kuwait eventually. I am guessing that Kuwait (Middle East?) was a hold out because (similar to the beloved Chevy Caprice), market demanded it here and therefore the manufacturers continued it.  So anyhoo, for several years, you could still find the Lancome liquid eyeliner with the brush applicator.

Lancome smaller tube
 with plastic brush applicator
(discontinued)


Until recently.....

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!  It happened!!!! 

I went to the counter and WABAM!  They have switched to the f-ing felt tip pen type which I HATE.  You can't even cram another brand's applicator in to the little tube.  WTF?!

Lancome, you have gone tooooo far.  After a lot of years (not sayin how many 'zactly), you are going to make me switch to another brand! 

Why do people always F around with a good thing?

The felt pen applicator - YUCK!

Okay, so you are thinking now, "So, Desert Girl, what is the big difference?  Who cares?"  Well, the difference is that Lancome's formula lasts a long time and goes on smooth without any creases - unlike cheaper competitors.  With a natural brush applicator, it goes on smoother and more consistently/evenly than the felt tip applicator.  The plastic brush is just bad, bad, bad:  It frays and after a few weeks, the plastic frays poke you in the eye or the eyeliner gets in places you aren't trying to put it.

The Lancome reps at the cosmetics counters tell me that EVERYBODY is complaining about the change to the felt tip applicator (and again - even less content).  We (the market) don't MIND spending the extra money for more (even if it is retailing at around 11KD in Kuwait = US$40), but give us what we want!

Lancome, why did you let us down??

This is a reprint from American Girl's blog.  Very well written and I support her oppinion whole heartedly.

Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness

Posted on June 15, 2011 by American Girl

It’s no secret I’m a supporter of the Bedouns and their case in Kuwait. It’s been ongoing for decades and though many promises have been made, no solutions have been implemented.

Though I’m not a Bedoun and never was, I still feel so much of their pain. I watch my friends live difficult lives only wishing for a ‘chance’. I see so many children not attending school, and so many adults spending their days looking for any kind of work in hopes of providing for their family.

There are some in Kuwait who prefer to deny the Bedoun situation is as bad as it is, and some like to say it doesn’t exist at all — stating they are allowed to work, get an education, travel, etc. Clearly the information they have is limited… or non-existent. I challenge those doubters to spend a day in Taima (Jahra) or Sulaibiya.

Fortunately the Bedouns aren’t forgotten. And as time goes on more and more attention is being brought to their case. On a personal note, I spend a great deal of time communicating with Human Rights organizations, writing articles for American newspapers (about the Bedouns), and interviewing Bedouns for my articles. And I know, without a doubt, I am certainly not the only person who puts forth effort on their behalf. There are many Americans who go far above and beyond what I do in hopes of sharing the voice of the Bedouns and many other Bloggers who have the same level of concern I do (Desert Girl being the first who comes to mind).

People sometimes ask why I care, or why I bother myself… why I care is a very long story… and ‘bothering myself’? It’s not a bother at all. If anything it’s an honor to share the stories of the Bedouns and do my very best to bring attention to their case. These are people who have endured more than most of us and live a life few of us could imagine. I have the utmost respect for all of them.

Two days ago the Human Rights Watch released their most recent report regarding the Bedoun; “Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness”. The entire report can be downloaded  HERE  

Rights report scolds Kuwait

Rights report scolds Kuwait

Arab Times

15 June 2011

 

KUWAIT CITY, June 13, (AFP): Kuwait has been urged to redress citizenship claims by 106,000 stateless people who have been denied this right for decades, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday.
The stateless people, locally known as bedouns, have also been deprived of basic human rights like work and education, says the report titled, “Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti bedoun and the burden of Statelessness.”

Based on interviews with bedouns, lawyers, rights activists and others, the report describes how many stateless remain “vulnerable, without protection and live in poverty,” as wealthy Kuwait considers them “illegal residents.”

The government has denied them essential documentation, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as access to free government schools and legal employment opportunities, said the report.
Bedouns staged protests in February and March to demand basic rights and citizenship, but their rallies were crushed by police leading to injuries and many arrests.

“The government responded to peaceful demonstrators with promises of reform, but it needs to go further and tackle their citizenship claims,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of the New York-based HRW.

Following the protests, the government has promised some new benefits, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, free health care, and improved access to jobs.

“If implemented, these would be positive steps,” said HRW. “But it would leave the root cause of their condition — their citizenship claims — unchanged,” the report said.

But many of the promised services have not been provided and they are not applicable to bedouns not registered with a government authority overseeing their affairs.

Umm Walid, a 43-year-old bedoun widow, said that she had no paperwork establishing her relationship to her deceased husband.

When “a bedoun dies, there is no death certificate, (so) there is no proof that I even had a husband,” she was cited as saying in the report.

“We don’t have (an) identity,” Basim A. told HRW. “(My son) was born without a birth certificate, (and died) without a death certificate.”

Bedouns claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship, saying that their ancestors failed to register for citizenship when the government began registration about five decades ago.

The government however insists most bedouns have other citizenships that they or their forefathers deliberately destroyed them to avail of services and generous benefits provided to Kuwaiti nationals.
Based on statistics by the government, 34,000 bedouns qualify for consideration for citizenship, 42,000 have Iraqi citizenship, 26,000 have other nationality while 4,000 are unknown.

The results of the statistics were based on secret evidence obtained by the government and which it refuses to share, HRW said.

“Denying bedoun basic identification documents on the basis of secret evidence that they have other nationality is as arbitrary as it is unfair,” Whitson said.

Top 50 Kuwait Blogs According to Google

I'm #4 according to Google's list of the top 50 most read blogs in Kuwait.  And here is me, thinking that no one bothers to read this rambling self-absorbed narcissistic (ME ME ME) shit.  Huh.  Aint that a thang? :)

Full story on BabbleQ8:  http://babbleq8.com/2011/06/thank-u-kuwaitsblog-com/
Thanks, BoKhalid, you made my day! :)

Arab Times Online Quickvote

"Slightly" biassed poll in the Arab Times today....  (if they can misuse quotation marks, so can I)

Gee, I guess Desert Girl will probably never appear on the Arab Times' "Blog of The Week"....  Que cera.

39KD Summer Hotel Rates

Expat and The City (American) called up and discovered that the Crowne Plaza and the Movenpick wouldn't allow single women to stay.  Whaaaaaat???  What if you are a contractor/(legitimate) business woman and want a room?  What's the deal?  I don't see anything in the ad saying that you have to be married. 

I strongly urge ALL single women in Kuwait to call the hotels and make a big stink if they say they won't sell a room to a single woman.

Old Kuwaiti dude dies, corpse isn't discovered for 4 months...

Arab Times
9 June 2011

KUWAIT CITY, June 7: The decomposed body of an elderly Kuwaiti man was found in his house in Surra recently.

High-ranking security officials, medical emergency workers and officers from the Criminal Evidence Department rushed to the location* immediately after the Operations Room at the Ministry of Interior received a call from one of the Kuwaiti’s sons, who said he found the decomposed body of his father when he visited the house.

According to the son, he and his brothers have not spoken to their father for a year and a half, without giving details. He said he called his father a few days ago but his mobile phone was switched off.  When his several attempts to contact his father by phone failed, he decided to visit the house and was shocked to find his father’s decomposed body.

Initial investigations revealed the Kuwaiti had died more than four months ago. His remains were referred to Forensics to determine the actual cause of death. 

---
*  Why do high-ranking officials always have to go out?  Why rush?  If dude has been there for months, what's the hurry?

Is this what Kuwait has come to?  FOUR months his body was there.  Really, do people here have more important things to do than to check on family?  What's happening to this country?  So sad.

Well, it makes me kinda wonder:  why didn't old dude have any friends?  Why didn't old dude's kids talk to him in over a year and a half?  Perhapsee he was a mean old dude, but still....

I've often said that I could die alone in my apartment and the only way anyone would know would be by the smell of my dead body.  Oh, that and maybe Desert Dawg...

Mexican Restaurant Opening in Kuwait: Lita's

Finally, real Mexican!

From my source, the food will be authentic Mexican.  I'll have more details for you later.  The restaurant is to open next week sometime. Good luck to you, Litas!  I hope to see more branches around Kuwait in the not-so-distant future!

Located in the center of Mahboula.

Thanks, DW!

CoverGirl coming to Kuwait?

I saw a few CoverGirl items at the Sultan Center in Kout last week (where, by the way, I found my Alpo dogfood and hoarded all 10 bags of it).

Yesterday, I saw more CoverGirl at the PX on Arifjan.

Could it be that someone is finally bringing the brand to Kuwait?  I love the smoky eyes collection.  It always sucks when you like a particular brand and you can't find it in Kuwait.  Eventually, someone catches on and brings it here but the wait is frustrating.

Bedoowi del Sud

Southern Bedu.... hands down the nicest, kindest man I have met in a very very very long time.  Mashallah.  It happened so fast and so easily that I still feel like it isn't real.  I've also been in such unhealthy relationshits for so long that part of me feels that I don't deserve something so good and decent and transparent.

Thursday evening when it got dusty he came over with a gift.  He brought me a nebulizer with the medicine.  OMG.  That was sooooo sweet.  I can't believe he did it.  What thoughtful thing to do. He was worried about me.  I have been "meaning" to buy a nebulizer (for the past 10 years...).

We're slipping into a nice routine.  He's slipping into my friends routine and I like that too.  Everybody likes him and I think he's having a good time.  I hope so because the last 15 years of his life haven't been the greatest for him.  He's been divorced for only a few months and deserves to enjoy life.

He thinks my ass is too small. WHO wouldn't love a man who tells you that  your ass is too small?  OMG!  I find it very hard to believe (especially since I do NOT have a small ass - and we're not talking "donkey").  I just want to know what kind of bigass women he's been around that mine compares on the petite side.  Dayam.

The weekend activity was good.  I got thumbs ups from my peeps on the Man From the South.  I think he and Special K will probably have a man-date later.  Tee hee.  Southern Bedu likes sheesha and gin.  Dude is my kind of man; the best of both worlds.  He was perfectly content to sit, Bedouin style, in a corner most of the night with both.  I was content to sit and watch him. :)

Stealth sent me an SMS asking what I was up to around the same time that he knows my "diwaniya" begins.  Gee, don't I feel special.  Dude, don't you know.... it has been a week!  I've moved on.  You should too. Get with the program!

One of my friends invited his friends and I did NOT care for them.  First, they walked in VERY late (2am!!  Who the F DOES that???) and didn't introduce themselves even after I walked up and introduced myself.  Next, one of them made Desert Dawg squeel (not with joy), so I walked over and said, "Whoever hurt the dog can leave.  Now." As Special K said, "awkward".  Hey - I don't care.  (For the record:  That ho-girl's skin-tight, boob-bearing, mini-dress and her 2 tons of make up was awkward too.)  SeeeeeeeeeeYA!  I'm one of those people who is willing to go to jail trying to protect my dog. I don't take it lightly  (.... there is the door, now get the phuck out.)

I only have a few house rules:  NEVER harm or feed the dog.  Never park in my crazyass neighbor's spot. Never ring my religious neighbors' door bells at 2am.  No peeling out of the parking area.  Should be simple, common sense, right?  WTF.

On zee flip side:  One of my very favorite couples graced me with their presence.  Thanks Media Girl.  You always brighten any place.  Bien sur, Spanx and her husband, another favored couple were there with The Germans in tow.  Butterfly was off doing something else with another crowd.  God only knows what Slaps was up to.  The Romanian is getting kind of tired of the diwaniya, I think, because there just aren't her kind of mens around.  (We need to do something about that.)  I think she was okay because she talked to Style most of the night, giggling together and chatting away in Romanian (yeah, I know - probably talking about the fact that my ass is NOT small.  ha ha.)  Style's friend, V, also came.  She's so cute and everybody loves her and I'm glad she is enjoying our company.

Style is going to Flex to get a keratin treatment today.  I'm thinking about getting another one, but I don't know if I'll do the Brazilian Blowout again.  It hasn't lasted very long and there was all that broohaha about the formaldehyde in it.  I want to get it done before I go to the States because my hair freaks out at the beach and in DC with the high humidity.

Anyhoo, Friday was kind of a quiet night - which is just fine by me.  Although I do thrive on The Drama, sometimes I need a rest.  I think I'm going to call off the diwaniya this coming weekend because I'm tired.  I need a quiet night. 

So I had my 2nd of 3 root canals done today by Dr. Unni at New Mowasat.  If  you are looking for a good dentist, the man is EXCEPTIONAL.  He has small hands (very important) and is maticulous about no pain.  I am a dental phobe.  I had a very bad experience with a root canal years ago that scarred me for life.  Anyhoo, today's tooth hurt.  Root canal #1 was better.  This one has a crack in it, so Dr. Unni wasn't as optimistic.  It hurts like a biotch at the moment and I'm all lit up on drugs.  I'm also using this as an excuse to eat ice cream today....

I have been into maxi dresses lately. (The drugs are making me segue to other topics...)  I wore one today because I want to feel like I'm wearing PJ's when I go to the dentist - comfortable and relaxed.  I didn't know if maxi dresses were appropriate for work, but then I came in and Stella is wearing one that makes her look like a movie star.  Now I'm cool with my dress.   I've missed working with women. 

Did you know that Baskin Robins doesn't deliver to Dajeej?  OMG this sucks!  What is WRONG with the world?

You Might Be a Girl from the USA living in Kuwait if...

Expat in the City has a hilarious post titled,

You Might Be a Girl from the USA living in Kuwait if...

It is frickin hilarous.  You could replace "USA" with just about any western country.  You have to read it!  LINK

I am SO guilty of all of this (and more).

What would you be willing to do for your country?

Japanese seniors volunteer for Fukushima 'suicide corps'

This story is on CNN and it is about Japanese senior citizens who are volunteering to go to work in the nuclear power plant.  THAT, my friends, is doing something for your country.  I got chills reading it.

"Masaaki Takahashi, 65, bristles at the name Hosono gave his team. "I want them to stop calling us the 'suicide corps' or kamikazes," he says. "We're doing nothing special. I simply think I have to do something and I can't allow just young people to do this."

"The group, consisting only of retirees age 60 and up, says it is uniquely poised to work at the radiation-contaminated plant, as the cells of an older person's body divide more slowly than a younger individual.

"We have to work instead of them," says Yamada, referring to the estimated 1,000 workers currently at the nuclear plant. "Elders have less sensitivity to radiation. Therefore, we have to work."